Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper Stay Hot with Home Runs as Phillies Take Series Over Mets
Jun 20, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) hits a three-run home run against the New York Mets in the third inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper are on fire right now, folks.
The Phillies kicked off a 13-game stretch of division opponents last week and picked up a series win over the Miami Marlins to start the stretch on a high note. Following the series win over Miami, Philadelphia began its first series against its biggest rival, the New York Mets, and things didn’t start the way the Phillies hoped.
They’d lose the first game of the series 6-4, in an embarrassing team performance, essentially getting punked in the opening matchup. Following a day off, the Phillies’ bats came out hot in Game 2, scoring 15 runs, the most they’ve scored in a single game all season.
Well, with the whole world watching on Sunday Night Baseball on NBC, the Phillies took care of business once again, getting big swings and pitching outings from their stars, picking up a 6-2 victory, winning another series.
Both the Phillies stars, Schwarber and Harper, went deep for the second consecutive game, with Schwarber providing the big one with a three-run bomb and Harper smoking a line drive solo shot. On the mound for the Phillies was Zack Wheeler, who, since making his season debut at the end of April, has been lights out on the mound and kept that run going against his former team.
Schwarber and Harper went nuclear in the final two games of this series, going a combined 12-for-17, with six home runs, 13 RBIs, and nine runs scored, with Harper adding a cycle in one game and a near cycle in another. It was a huge turnaround after the duo went a combined 1-for-8 in the opener of this series.
Wheeler got to work right away, sending the Mets down in order in the first. He struck out Carson Benge and Bo Bichette to kick off the frame, and Bryson Stott helped him out with a great sliding grab to throw out Juan Soto.
Unlike the Mets, the Phillies’ bats woke up right away in the first, getting two early runners on thanks to walks to Trea Turner and Schwarber. Alec Bohm brought home one run on an infield single, and Edmundo Sosa brought in another one on another single, this one back up the middle, to make it 2-0 Philadelphia.
Back-to-back singles from Jared Young and A.J. Ewing of the Mets ran Wheeler into trouble in the second inning, but Wheeler worked around it, picking up a lineout, a popout, and a groundout to get out of the jam.
Following a two-run first, the bats continued in the second, this time coming in the form of the longball. Stott and Turner smacked back-to-back singles to center, bringing up Schwarber with a runner in scoring position.
Mets’ starter David Peterson attempted to sneak a 1-0 inside fastball past Schwarber, and the Schwarbarian smoked it 418 feet into the right field seats for a three-run bomb to make it 5-0 Philadelphia.
Harper followed that homer up with a double down the right field line, but the Phillies were unable to add any more in the second. However, in the top of the third, the Mets bats finally got a spark going with the rookie Benge smoking an opposite-field solo shot, putting New York on the board.
Following that home run, Wheeler got back to business, picking up two outs, with one coming from Soto trying to stretch a single into a double. Both teams went down in order in their next two innings of at-bats, but that all changed in the bottom of the fifth, as Harper smoked a home run for the second consecutive night into the right field bleachers.
With his pitch count in the 80s, Wheeler looked like he was running on fumes in the top of the sixth, as he walked not one, not two, but three of the first four batters he faced in the inning to load the bases with only one out. Following a meeting at the mound with Don Mattingly, the Phillies skipper elected to see if Wheeler could get out of his mess.
Wheeler forced a groundout from Ewing, but the Phillies were unable to turn two, resulting in one run scoring for the Mets. Mattingly then pulled Wheeler for Jonathan Bowlan, who managed to strike out Marcus Semien to get out of the mess of a sixth inning, keeping the Phillies ahead 6-2.
Little offense came from the Phillies in the sixth, and with Jose Alvarado on the mound for the Phillies in the seventh, the big lefty worked around a two-out single to get through the inning.
The Phillies threatened with Harper smoking a single in the bottom half of the inning, putting him a triple shy of the cycle for the second consecutive game, and a hit by pitch from Sosa put two runners on. Brandon Marsh, who had struggled all night and all series long, ended that attempt at adding runs, lining out to end the frame.
A quick eighth inning from both brought Jhoan Duran in the ninth for a non-save appearance to pick up the final three outs of the night. After allowing a leadoff single from Ewing, Duran picked up not one, not two, but three consecutive strikeouts to finish off the Mets, with the Phillies winning 6-2 for the series win.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
Get New Articles Emailed Right To Your Inbox:
